826

A few weeks back, I went to a fundraising event for 826 Boston. I've known this center is in Boston for a while now. I am also familiar with the history of 826. I can't remember now why I know this. Perhaps because I'm a little bit fascinated with Dave Eggers.

I read Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius way back when it first came out. I think my mom may've passed it along to me. It was odd and interesting and I liked it. Then Eggers, the author, fell off my radar screen for a good long while until one day, in the mail from Amazon, I received a gift from my book-giving friend Robin, What is the What. What an absolutely amazing book. I loved every minute. And then, my roommate at the time had McSweeney's lying around.

Around this same time is when 826 Boston came on the scene. Okay, a brief history of 826. Dave Eggers and some others wanted to start a writing center in San Francisco in the Mission District (one of the San Fran neighborhoods most in need of this kind of thing). They found the perfect space at 826 Valencia Street. But it was zoned for retail. So they all put their heads together and decided to sell pirate supplies. In the back of the store was the after-school tutoring center for kids in the neighborhood. The pirate store did so well, it paid for a bunch of the needs of the center! As other 826 centers have opened up around the country, they each have a store out front. Boston is the Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute, where one can purchase all your needs for hunting bigfoot and other mythical creatures. It's pretty cool.

So, back to this event I went to. It involved Steve Almond, Julia Glass and Dave Eggers. They did the intros of the student authors who were published in 826 Boston's first book, 2% of 2% of All the World's Stories. Each child came up to the stage, sat in a big easy chair, and read their story to the over 300 people in the room. One kid was 7! It was so wonderful. It made my soul lighter. I asked that 7-year-old to sign my book afterwards!

Then I heard about a special screening of Away We Go, a new Sam Mendes film starring John Krasinski (the Office) and Maya Rudolph (SNL), written by Dave Eggers and his wife Vendela Vida. So of course I bought a ticket to that. All the money went to 826 Boston. And I knew that Eggers would be there to do Q&A at the end, but lo and behold, so were John and Maya. So cool! They are doing special screenings all over the country to benefit 826 centers, just because Dave Eggers wrote the movie. Pretty awesome.

Another note. 826 Centers only serve the schools right in their direct neighborhoods, that are often the most in need in the city overall. 826 Boston is in Egleston Square in Roxbury and serves elementary, middle and high schools (specific ones) in Roxbury and JP. They also don't serve any kid that wants to come in. The kids are selected, and the Boston center serves about 35 right now. Once they have some more money, they will double that number. The kids all have a binder that tracks everything they are doing while in the center. They finish homework first, and then have to read for 30 minutes, and then they can work on a creative project. It's all very structured and very results-driven.

The Center does four types of things. First, the after school tutoring. Second, field trips, where a class comes from the school to the center to write a book together with an illustrator, a publisher, and them. Each kid goes home with a bound book of which they write the ending. Third, programs in classrooms - volunteers go to the class in the school and run a program there. Finally, workshops, held on evenings and weekends in the center. They also run summer "writing camp" programs.

I went last Saturday to a volunteer orientation at the Bigfoot Institute (826 Boston). It was great. I can't do after school tutoring because it's 3:30 - 6:30 during the week and I can't get there from work. But, they need workshop presenters. You create the workshop and then teach it to a group of kids on evenings or weekends. Right up my alley. I submitted a proposal that same day for August (when they noted they need workshop presenters every day for the summer camp program). I heard back from them yesterday and we're going to finalize everything next week. I'm very excited to share writing and creativity with a group of 8-10-year-olds.

And what do I get? That lighter soul feeling again, if I'm lucky!